Vehicles are typically provided with an inside rear view mirror that provides a view of the rear of the automobile. This view is generally limited and thus automobiles are also provided with two side mirrors placed outside of the car. One of these side mirrors is typically located on the right side of the car and the other one on the left. Most of what occurs behind an automobile can be observed by the driver. However, the combination of these mirrors is deficient in that blind spots or areas where a driver cannot see, still exist. Consequently, other automobiles or traveling objects, that are located within these blind spots cannot be seen. In order to eliminate these blind spots, large, cumbersome mirrors must be drilled into the roof of the automobile and the current rear view mirror must be removed. Also, distorting side rear view mirrors have been employed. However, because these mirrors are distorting, a driver can not accurately estimate the distance between such cars and other objects and his or her own automobile. Furthermore, objects tend to have distorted and contorted shapes, thus it is difficult to see objects within the blind spots. Therefore, in an attempt to solve the problem of blind spots, distorting rear view mirrors create other handicaps for drivers.
To be able to see objects within the blind spots, drivers are required to turn their heads in the lateral and backwards direction of the direction which they are travelling in order to see whether such automobiles or objects exist in the blind spots. Unfortunately, the act of looking laterally and backwards while traveling forwards requires a driver to momentarily look away from the forward direction. At speeds of 55 MPH and higher, this even momentary lapse in observing what is going on in front of the drivers can be fatal. Furthermore, many individuals have difficulty in turning their heads and for others with physical disabilities or age this task can be next to impossible.
These problems have contributed to an extraordinary amount of loss of life and property. Many accidents and fatalities have been caused because of blind spots or because drivers had been looking away from the forward direction of travel.
Others have tried to address this problem such as the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,255. However, these inventions are expensive to manufacture as they require numerous parts and special manufacturing. Furthermore, during driving, there are often times when it is desirable and indeed necessary for a driver or passenger to use the automobile's sun visor. The conventional auxiliary rear view mirrors, such as that described by Martinez in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,255, cannot be used with automobile sun visors. Once the sun visor is pulled down, the sun visor will block the view of the auxiliary mirrors and there is no way to move the auxiliary mirror from the path of the sun visor. Unfortunately, these inventions have failed to provide a satisfactory solution to the continuing problem of eliminating blind spots.
There is clearly a need for a safe, effective, and affordable means of eliminating or reducing blind spots for rear view mirrors. Such a solution should not only be effective, but it must be efficient to manufacture, cost-effective to produce, and accommodate the use of other automobile parts. It must also be easy to adapt for use in retrofitting the many different existing rear view mirrors currently in use.